Hair Algea

[ctreptow]

What kind of fish to do you currently have living in your tank?

 

The tank with the problem has 2 saddleback clowns, a bicolor angel and a cardinal.

 

I only feed home made food of nori, ground up silversides, shrimp and mysis..

 

Chris

[reefmontalvo]

The clowns are hebivores.....I think? Well I placed a hippo tang in my tank the problem has never shown up again.

[ctreptow]

The clowns are hebivores.....I think? Well I placed a hippo tang in my tank the problem has never shown up again.

 

Yeah go figure the Hippo is in the other tank... And no algae in that one..

 

Since I grow algae so well I decided to add some more.

 

Here are da pics.

 

 

 

 

 

Chris

[reefmontalvo]

Nice !!! See the pipe in the background, notice how it looks picked, that is because the hippo is nipping at all the new growth. I think he needs to be placed on TDY to the next tank. LOL

[ctreptow]

Nice !!! See the pipe in the background, notice how it looks picked, that is because the hippo is nipping at all the new growth. I think he needs to be placed on TDY to the next tank. LOL

 

Believe me is I could catch him he would be there.

 

I see some rock on the other tank so the dark and cleaners are starting to do their job.

 

Chris

[ctreptow]

Well go figure..

 

I purchased my Phos kit today and my makeup water has a reading of .5. This would explain why I have and had an algae problem. Here is my problem I had phos comming out of my old RO system so I purchased a Spectrapure Maxcap DI. TDS is 154 going into the 1st stage and 0 out of the 1st stage. SO as expected 0 out of the final stage.

 

So it looks like the phos is still getting through. Any thoughts on how to stop this?

 

Chris

[reefmontalvo]

I'm not sure but have you changed the filters? And also are you running any type of reactor with phosphate absorbing material?

[ctreptow]

Maxcap is brand new less then 300 gallons through it. I am currently running 2 phosban reactors with phosar on the main setup but man I have a problem even before the water enters the system... Can I run GFO on my makup water.. uuuggg

 

Chris

[mling]

2 words -> Sea Hare

I had the same problem and got a Sea Hare from Blue Ribbon Koi. In just days it was all gone.

[ctreptow]

Well I found out that you get a false positive with pure RO/DI water. I tested my salt water container and it tested 0. Off to look for other problems.

 

Can a sea hare nuke the system?

 

Chris

[mling]

Well I found out that you get a false positive with pure RO/DI water. I tested my salt water container and it tested 0. Off to look for other problems.

 

Can a sea hare nuke the system?

 

Chris

From what I was told, it can ink when attacked by it is not harmful ink

[Kevin Garrison]

Well one thing I know for sure eats hair algea is sea hares, they will eat it like there is no tomorrow. Problem is once it's gone they have nothing to eat. Maybe we should all chip in and buy one and have it be the group hair algea remover. Whoever needs it gets it next.

 

Just a thought...

[Jon Lazar]

I've never heard of a sea hare actually releasing it's ink in an aquarium, and I've never heard of one living more than a couple of months.

 

Jon

[ctreptow]

Tank update, The hair is almost gone.

 

I added my Chaeto tumbler and a Bulk Reef Reator with GFO. The cleanup crew has done a great job.

 

 

 

The back wall took a hit but it still looks great.

[MisterTang]

Cool. I remember having issues the same time you posted yours, and mine is all but gone now as well. I'm sure it's nothing but blue skies and smooth sailing from here

[dbartco]

glad to see Chris. I haven't forgotten about you and the frags I owe. Been a little hectic lately.

[ctreptow]

Yeah it's nice to finally see the rock. Doug not a problem let my know when you have time.

 

Chris

[Rascal]

Tank update, The hair is almost gone.

 

I added my Chaeto tumbler and a Bulk Reef Reator with GFO. The cleanup crew has done a great job.

 

Looks great. Out of curiosity, did you do any manual removal, or did the hermits et al actually eat that much algae? Also, how much GFO did you end up putting on that system, and how often if at all have you changed it?

[ctreptow]

Looks great. Out of curiosity, did you do any manual removal, or did the hermits et al actually eat that much algae? Also, how much GFO did you end up putting on that system, and how often if at all have you changed it?

 

The way I did it was to add my cleanup crew. I purchased my crew from reefcleaners.org Here's my list

 

70 Dwarf Cerith

13 Florida Cerith

21 Nassarius Vibex

15 Limpets

4 Fuzzy Chiton

30 Blue Leg Hermit Crab

 

The Chiltons can mow down some algae.

 

I used a bottle brush to remove as much as I could. The brush worked well at cutting the algae from 3 inches to 1/2 inch.

 

I puchased a Lawnmower Blenny that I think ate himself to death. He was doing great for 3 weeks then I noticed his belly was huge. 2 days later he was crab food on the bottom... He was great fun to watch I miss him..

 

I had 2 Phosban reactors laying around and some old phosar that Doug gave me so I hooked them up.

4 weeks ago Still running I haven't replaced phosar yet.

 

2 weeks ago I purchased the dual reactor from Bulk Reef supply with carbon and GFO. I added 2 cups of carbon and 2 cups of GFO to the system. I replaced the GFO once last week.

 

I added my chaeto tumbler "see diy section", and watched my chaeto grow from a golf ball size to almost soccerball size in a couple of weeks.

 

My plan is to remove the phosban reactors 1 at a time over the next week. and change my GFO every 2 weeks for the next 2 months. Keep the Chaeto tumbling and cleanup crew strong.

 

I think my problem was the rock in the front came from Marco Rocks. I didn't realize that dry rock needs to be cleaned before being added to the tank. All the dead stuff in the rocks created a mess. I am over the hump and moving forward.

 

Chris

[capsfan]

I hate hair algae.

 

Edited October 29, 2008 by capsfan

[ctreptow]

6 month update.. The algae is gone and now starting to stock it..

 

 

 

Chris

[cabrego]

Did you ever determine what the cause of the problem was? I can't image that type of hair algae without a major nutrient excess problem.

[st9z]

6 month update.. The algae is gone and now starting to stock it..

 

 

 

Chris

wow looks like a totally different tank...

[ctreptow]

wow looks like a totally different tank...

 

Yes it does.. A little time mean a lot...

 

I never did find out what caused the initial outbreak I feel it was a combination of new startup, I put marco rock in without curing and maybe the foam. The tank really seems to be coming back so I hope to stock it now and see if things continue to improve.